A life has not been properly lived until at least a few hours of it have been spent in a YouTube rabbit hole watching videos of the late writer and debater Christopher Hitchens delivering his famous “hitchslap” to ill-informed debate opponents.

For those who don’t know him, Hitchens was one of history's most vocal critics of organized religion. Even his book titles left little to the imagination; “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” was one of his bestsellers.

Admire or despise him, “Hitch” ranks amongst the most interesting thinkers of the past century.

Buried in one of his shorter books is the following passage. It captures the man’s worldview beautifully and routinely gets me all sorts of juiced up:

Beware the irrational, however seductive. Shun the ‘transcendent’ and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live for others any more than you would expect others to live for you.

Be warned: I intend to take this advice to heart as the battle against "Baby On Board" stickers continues.